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More teens pass grad test in Columbus City Schools

Columbus school attendance scandal

Columbus City Schools employees -- and perhaps others in schools throughout the state -- are accused of falsifying students' records to improve their schools' standing on state report cards. Read the complete series.

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Columbus City Schools showed improvement on the Ohio Graduation Test administered last school
year, with some high schools recording dramatic jumps in passing rates.

Districtwide, about 2,700 students took the test for the first time and the passing rate went up
for four of the five subjects: reading, writing, science and social studies. The passing rate
dropped by less than a percentage point in math, said Machelle Kline, executive director of
accountability, in charge of reporting student data.

“We have a positive movement in front of us and we want to build upon that,” Kline said.

The district’s strongest high school academically, Columbus Alternative, continued to lead the
pack in overall scores, with 100 percent of its students passing the reading test. Passing rates
ranged from 85 percent to 98 percent in the other four subjects.

At struggling South High and Linden-McKinley STEM, students posted huge performance gains.

At South, passing rates for the reading test improved by 31.8 percentage points, to 73.6
percent. Writing shot up 29.6 percentage points, to 71.4 percent. The school made double-digit
increases on each of the other subjects, and black students narrowed the gap with their white peers
by 4.5 percentage points in reading, 10.7 percentage points in math and 6.8 percentage points in
social studies.

Kline credits Diplomas Now, a special program at South and Linden McKinley that offers intense
one-on-one support to at-risk students, based on their attendance, behavior and course performance.
Diplomas Now connects students with counseling, health care, housing, food and clothing.
Young-adult mentors work full time to welcome students to school, call them if they don’t show up,
and offer tutoring.

“I really think that is the key,” Kline said. “Kids rise to the occasion. Teachers rise to the
occasion. Parents rise to the occasion.”

Ed Baker, principal for grades seven to 12 at South, said the federal grant that South used to
pay for Diplomas Now expired at the end of last school year. He is looking for local and state
financial support to continue the program, which supports teachers in the classroom by solving
problems that kids bring from home.

Kline said district officials realize that the public might be skeptical of gains, given the
data scandal under former Superintendent Gene Harris’ watch. Officials manipulated attendance,
withdrew poorly performing students and changed grades in an attempt to boost student-performance
reports, including graduation test passing rates.

While declining to give specifics, Kline said that she has personally seen to it that
administrators who don’t follow strict new protocols are dealt with promptly. She said she has
brought administrators “Downtown,” to the district’s headquarters.

“It’s more than writing them up,” Kline said. “We are following the letter of the law. We have
no room to allow for testing irregularities.

“When you cheat, it’s not the adults who get hurt, it’s the kids who get hurt, and then the
community gets hurt.”

Principals can no longer unilaterally make grade or attendance changes, Kline said. The computer
system has been locked down. For example, the teacher of record must initiate any grade change, she
said. A new central attendance processing center Downtown at Fort Hayes handles all attendance
changes, but not before all required documentation is submitted.

“I’ll be darned if I’m going down for something that’s inappropriate,” Kline said.